What a great year 2020 was!

"Carsten, you have lost your mind!"  This may be what some of you are thinking as you read the title of this blog entry.  But for the topic of this blog, namely my continued work on my 1-scale layout, 2020 was amazing, at least in terms of the progress I made.  Here's an image from about a year ago:

Yup, that's the lower staging yard (henceforth known as the Lower Schattenbahnhof, or LSB) as it looked in January 2020.  A year later I am done with the benchwork, have all the track laid, and that Schattenbahnhof is now buried three levels deep under other track!

Even though I haven't added entries into the blog since September, work has continued, with a flurry of activity in December.  First, I completed installation of almost all of the reed switches on the layout.  There are a total of 51 of them now installed on the main line, and I will likely install a few more on the freight yard sidings.  

There are four Digikeijs DR4088GND feedback modules connected via CAT6 cables to the Intellibox.  The 51 reed switches around the layout are part of 17 individual blocks, three sensors per block.  The blocks are arranged around the layout like this:

What you are seeing above is an image of the track diagram I created in TrainController software, which I am now using.  LSB is the lower Schattenbahnhof, USB is the upper Schattenbahnhof (staging yard / hidden station).  I know, the terminology is a mix of German and American English, but then so am I!  Note the trains situated in the staging yards and on the layout.  Pretty cool, eh?

Aside from the work with wiring up all those reed switches I have been buried in the manual of TrainController Silver, the package I have purchased.  An upgrade to Gold may be in my future, too.  But for now, Silver does everything I want it to do- assuming I figure it out!  The learning curve is steep, but there is a large online community that has been very helpful.  It has also been lots of fun watching the software follow trains around the layout!

Three trains are ready to depart the Lower Schattenbahnhof (LSB).  With TrainController I suspect I will have between 4 and 6 trains running at any given time, with three more on sidings in the two staging yards.  

Is that a new siding?  Yup, I decided to liven up the south end of the station with a short siding that will be used for loading lumber and other goods onto appropriate freight cars.

Okay, more coming soon as I continue to play around with the software and begin what is hopefully the track ballasting and scenery work!

Happy New Year, all!

- Carsten

 

Let the Fun Begin!

 My wife is an over-the-road trucker, which means she doesn't make it home more often than about every three weeks.  Her visits to the basement are even more infrequent.  However this past weekend she was quite interested in seeing the progress I had made on the layout.  She followed me down to the basement and gasped in astonishment when she saw how much has been accomplished.  I smiled broadly at her admiration.  This she followed up with, "Okay, so?"  "So what?" I retorted.  "So let's see it run!" she demanded.  This was followed by, "And why does the big steam locomotive not have any cars behind it?"

I really hadn't spent a significant amount of time running trains, and certainly there were some trains that had been prone to uncoupling and other maladies, including the afore-mentioned 'big steam locomotive', my KM-1 BR50.  There were plenty of trains on the layout, but mostly for show, and for making the blog entries look like <ahem> everything was running fine.  Well, this was going to be the test.

At some point she left and went back upstairs.  Me?  I was too busy managing the throttles of the Intellibox to notice her departure.  She had opened Pandora's box.  In no time I had four trains running around the layout simultaneously.  Thankfully the trains stayed on the track and remained coupled.  I kept gasping in horror as several times two trains appeared to be ready to collide.  But the truth was, there were no collisions, not even close.  In fact, even with four trains running simultaneously there is enough distance between them thanks to the long main line that, not only did I not have to constantly adjust throttles, but the layout itself didn't seem overloaded.  Until I get used to operating the layout my mind will continue to assume that the small layout space means trains are close to colliding.  But the truth is, the main line would be over 150 feet long if it were laid out straight.  That's a train roughly every forty feet.

Running trains has become a daily occurrence, and I find it to be an amazing stress reliever.  Here are a couple of pictures from today's operating session:

The BR50 is pulling a coal train (well, a string of empties until I create coal inserts) while the V200 and it's FD-Zug wait for the signal to turn green.  The BR50 is headed from the parade section down into the bottom staging yard, while the FD-Zug is going to be entering the station above it as soon as the signal changes to Hp1.

The signal turns green for the FD-Zug 'Gambrinus' just as the last coal car passes the block signal.  The Big diesels in the V200 are roaring to life and the locomotive is about to move...  

Things are coming together...

Well, everyone, I'm happy to report that progress on Carstenbahn One continues.  I added some more benchwork to widen the top station level.  This was done to provide enough room for the Vollmer 'Neuffen' station building.  I also painted the top of the station a light brown.  Here's how it looks with the station in place:

As you can see I also placed the signal tower in a provisional location.  Same goes for the freight depot:

Here is a view from the opposite end of the layout:

There are a few Preiserlings sitting on the loading dock of the freight shed in the station.  They are probably wondering when we might see a train...  

Well, as you can imagine, the answer was "very soon!"

The local passenger train made up of a V100 and three-axle 'Umbauwagen' has been waiting a few minutes for the arrival of the F-Zug, pulled by the beefy V200.  Meanwhile a pair of V36 diesels pulling a freight train wait at the signal at left for permission to ascend the grade up to the station.  

Next I will wire up the switches and remaining reed switches, and begin the programming of the layout... 

Christmas in August

I read back through the blog a ways and must say I find it amazing how much has been accomplished on the layout this year.  What normally would have taken a few years has been completed in a matter of months.  The progress culminated last Saturday when, for the first time ever, I was able to run a train all the way around the layout.  What did I pick to commemorate this historic moment?  My gorgeous BR50 from KM1?  My MBW V200?  Maybe my very first 1-scale locomotive, the class 212 diesel-hydraulic?  Nope.  Without any fanfare, and to give me the best chance of success, it was my diminutive tank locomotive with a Maxi track cleaning car...

And successful it was, until the train approached the station.  I had forgotten that the curved turnouts from Huebner had polarized frogs, and without them being hooked up there was no power to the locomotive, so I had to attach feeder wires to those.  Since I'm only using one station track in each direction in the station right now I could get away without having to keep switching the polarization.  Anyway, after that was taken care of, it wasn't long before more and more trains found their way around the layout.  Not everything went as smooth as hoped.  The grades are very steep, and the F-Zug coaches are routinely ripping the couplers out of the sockets, breaking the tabs holding them in in the process.  I will need to come up with a more permanent coupler solution for those, I think.  But the train makes it up the grade and fits in the station!

By-and-large, the first few days of running have been a success.  I'm very happy to watch the trains traverse the different levels.  I still haven't watched enough to see where and when to expect a trains to appear next, i.e. what level and what track, so running trains is still a bit of a mystery.  

Still, I was able to run two trains at once, and at prototypical speed they take three to four minutes to traverse the layout once.  Here is a video of the parade section:

I think my favorite aspect of the layout is the broad curve of the station tracks on the top level.  It adds quite a bit of realism and elegance to that section, and I hope I can get the tracks lined up without kinks and parallel throughout the curve.  

Oh, and lastly, I figured out the short lead and stub siding to the 'north' end of the station, providing both a scenic element and some operational fun.  

There is still so much to do.  Hopefully I don't get distracted by being able to run trains, now...

Stay tuned!

And... ...We're back!

About a month after the last post I'm back at work on the layout.  Although I still don't have all the track I need to finish the main line I have enough to proceed with at least attempting to figure out the hardest part of the layout- the station.

The little device above will be instrumental in completing the station.  As mentioned in the previous post, I was going to need to bend a bunch of rails into radii that just don't exist.  The solution? Use Marklin's 5998 flex track kit and make them myself.  I had the track kits, but had no clue to what I was doing.  Step one was understanding how the track kits work.  Turns out they are easy to understand and very smart!  The only issue I had with the process was the rather unscientific way Marklin suggests bending the rails.  So instead I went in search of a rail bender, and discovered the beauty you see above, the Rail Ben 250 from Sunset Valley Railroad.  The Rail Ben 250 was designed for, as you can guess, code 250 rail, i.e. G-scale.  It takes a little practice, but the Rail Ben 250 works with Marklin 1-scale rail, which is actually code 200, I believe.  A little practice bending and unbending rails, and I was ready...

Those are the four station tracks at the 'north' end of the layout.  I laid them out provisionally this evening to see how they looked.  They look a little ridiculous going from the tight radii at the far end to the broad radii further down, but I'm hoping the signal tower, station, and a few well-placed trees help hide the tight curve as it comes out of the tunnel (yes, the plan is to have a tunnel at each end of the station).

About two-thirds of the station tracks are made of the gentle flex track.  The other third, towards the bottom, will be straight.  As soon as the remaining curves arrive (looks like I need two more to finish the main line) I can complete the track plan and be ready to finally run trains around the layout. 

More to come, hopefully soon!



   

FULL STOP

Well, this may be the last post for a while.  I have run out of track.  

"But Carsten, how can that be?"  Well, I'm glad you asked.  

It all has to do with the picture-a-day calendar someone on one of the Marklin Facebook groups posted back in January:

I admired this photo for a good long time, specifically how cool and realistic the gentle curve of the station looked.  I have decided that, instead of straight station tracks, I want to use some of the Marklin 1-scale flex tracks to build a gentle curve into the station.  I have some of those Marklin 5998 flex track building sets, but was planning on using them to build the final curves I need on the ends of both of the ramps coming up from the middle section.  So now I need more of the 1020mm and 1176mm radius curves.  And they are hard to find and damn expensive!

That's not to say there hasn't been any progress...

This is the section of the layout against the back wall.  The place where trains are parked is the three track staging yard on the lowest level.  What sits above it are the two opposing ramps leading up to the third/top/station level.  These two will loop around and connect in the station.  If you look to the right of this photo you will see...

...the track benchwork swinging around towards the front of the layout.  The track will come around another 45 degrees at the end of the benchwork before the station switches.  Note the lack of curves.  To complete the curved section on this side approaching the station I need 6 of the 1020mm and 1176mm curves.  Now, if you were to instead look to the left of the previous picture of the two ramps you would see...

...the track benchwork from the middle level swing up and around the curve here, too.  Again, I'm missing some pretty important curved track.  However on this, the 'north' end of the layout, you can see that I have proceeded further with the building of the track roadbed, and that benchwork, at least provisionally, continues all the way to the front of the layout, where...

... I have done some provisional laying of track at the entrance to the station.  The right-most tracks (the shorter ones in the image above that split from the right-most curved turnout) are the station tracks in one direction, and the two tracks next to it are the station tracks going in the other direction.  The track on the left that comes off the left-most curved turnout will go to a small yard, only two or three tracks.  This small yard will give me the ability to take manual control of a train or two to do some shunting in the yard versus just watching trains run around the layout.  

Note how the two tracks in the middle (the two 'left' station tracks) have a slight bend to them.  These are, in fact, built with the Marklin 5998 sets.  In both cases I started the three-foot long section of flex track with a tighter radius and then went to a broader radius for the gentle bend in the station.  

As soon as I get my hands on the needed curves I will post again, hopefully with pictures of the rest of the station with the gentle bend in it... 

 

It's always the one you least suspect...

I was finishing up the second level (yes, it's done) and it occurred to me that I hadn't even tested all the train cars to make sure I had sufficient clearance between the tracks and the risers for the tracks above.  Sure, I had grabbed my longest coaches, but what about all the different locos and other train cars with overhang?  And most important, what about my 'pride and joy', my KM-1 BR50 steam locomotive?  

I held my breath for each locomotive- the V200 from MBW, the BR50, the Shunting Crocodile, and the pair of V36's.  I ran the three-axle 'Umbauwagen' and my longest freight cars.  I breathed a sigh of relief- all seemed to clear the layout without any clearance or interference issues.  As I moved trains out of the lower staging yard for the next phase of construction, the whole operation turned into a disaster.

This guy.  This little Marklin Maxi baggage car started around the layout on the bottom level behind a Maxi locomotive and proceeded to HIT EVERY SUPPORT on the front side of the lower level.

If you look closely you can see why.  That little step under the baggage door sticks out further from the track than anything else in my entire rolling stock collection.  I halfheartedly considered grabbing my Dremel tool and making quick work of the offending steps, but after my conscience stepped in, followed by a string of obscenities, I went to work with both shaving off some material from the supports and repositioning the tracks.  Between the two, the baggage car now clears all the risers interference free.

So for anyone out there who is planning and/or building an elaborate layout in any scale, be sure you check clearances with every piece of rolling stock you have.  Because like me, you may discover that your worst enemy is the one you would never expect... 

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